Artists
of Brücke ()
The NYC MoMA has always been known for
their thorough web pieces, and the Artists of Brücke
is no exception to that trend. MoMA's guide provides a very
thick and compelling narrative which guides the user through
the Brücke movement, its political ramifications, artistic
ramifications, and the majority of the Brücke artists'
visual work. While the design is simple and unmemorable, the
superior information architecture shines through by grouping
pieces according to compositional theme, providing separate
trees of information for each artist in the commune, and capping
it all with a very clever onMouseover-driven thumbnail menu
of the artists' various prints. Highlights include: a pop-up
political map of Germany with three overlays, voice-over audio
files, and Franzi Reclining.Designed by: Second
Story USAReview: Max F.

Gravis
Footwear ()
Remember the first time you saw a Whopper? We've all seen
and eaten hamburgers before, of course, but the Whopper seemed
to be the perfect specimen. Somehow, it reshapes the very
notion of what a hamburger should be -- but it wasn't reinventing
the wheel. That's how the Gravis Footwear site feels for the
first 30 minutes that we played with it. You see, Gravis has
accomplished no mean feat in successfully capturing the best
practices of just about every apparel site ever constructed.
Have they really redefined the world of online retail? No,
that's an exaggeration. However, the clever combination of
incredibly subtle scene changes and a menu which always does
just what you expect it to do leaves us curs jealous and more
than a little saddened as we effortlessly glide through Gravis'
entire line of apparel as well as the surprisingly interesting
bios chronicling the lives of their development and surf team.
You'll keep navigating just to see if the menus are reading
your thoughts. Highlights include: the calming color scheme,
scrolling inventories, and last, but not least, the spot-on
environmental shots.Review: Max F.

Stain
Boy ()
Stainboy is, of course, the flash animation
brought to us by the twisted genius of Tim Burton. Is it absolutely
the funniest thing we've ever seen? No, of course not. But,
it is one of the better cartoons available online, and it's
by the brilliant Mr. Burton, to boot. Done in the style of
all those who have bitten off him in the past seven or eight
years (a.k.a. - the likes of Slave Labor Graphics), Stainboy
at Atom Films follows the adventures of the aforementioned
as he goes toe-to-toe with fiends such as Bowling Ball Head
and Match Girl. In typically dark-humor fashion, Burton brings
us six short vignettes which -- like most everything at Atom
-- serve mostly to alleviate the boredom of the work day,
but partially to inspire new artists who should be reminded
just how easily something like this can be put together and
distributed. Highlights include Danny Elfman's theme song
and some wonderful water color effects.Review: Max F.

Black
Hawk Down ()
Blackhawk Down may not be your
cup of tea, but the website is well worth the visit
if you're a designer who appreciates content. Effectively
combining still shots from the movie with real-life
data about the soldiers who lived the real-life drama,
BHD manages to capture the military, chest-beating,
shit-blowing-up look and feel of the movie without
being Jerry Bruckheimer about it. A Desert Storm color
scheme and schematic-esque text and layout treatments
frame a navigation which, when it works, leads the
viewer to a seemingly endless amount of information
about the cast and crew of the film, the history of
the various special ops branches, as well as a multimedia
library to get a potential ticket excited to see the
carnage. Highlights include the collapsible navigation
tree and the compelling narrative (see The Boys).Review: Max F.

Dstrukt_sys
()
Another site with no real content,
Dstrukt_sys is at the very least a nice diversion
from what might otherwise be a monotonous day of tweaking
a clip-art logo. Featuring very cool music by Stoav
of Duolog, Dstrukt features collaborations with the
likes of Renascent, Stoav, D-Realm, and Ximeralabs.
Wish you were more skilled at painting with Raytracer
or 3D Studio Max? They don't. Next time you break
for Doritos and coke, flip through the show reels
for a little inspiration.Review: Max F.

We
Are Robots"Hey, you look at my girlfriend
one more time and I will rip your eyes out and shove
them up your asshole, which I will also rip out. And
then tear you a new one." And thus begins the Angrybot
cartoon, one of four currently posted at We Are Robots
(from the creators of Whitebread
Blues). Done in the style of Sal Buscema meets
Cartoon Network, We Are Robots is a mediocre concept,
with a few very funny one-liners tossed in. While
Angrybot is definitely the funniest of the cartoons,
Tendertron, Robokopf, and Sad Robot round out the
cast. Flash cartoons are rather hit-or-miss these
days, but if you enjoy the antics of Homestar Runner,
you'll probably get a few chuckles out of the emotibots.Review: Max F.

enjoy
the weather ()
At first glance, 'enjoy the weather'
does look impressive, but a few minutes spent twiddling
with buttons proves very quickly just how boring a
few pretty tweens can be these days. So, let's get
down to brass tacks: while environmental shots and
whiz-bang brochureware are being used at an all-time
high to act as a table of contents to profitability,
Nike was pioneering this back in the earliest days
of the internet and, frankly, more should be expected
of them than this. Is it enough 'enjoy' was designed
as a very "with it," very "now" website for Nike?
No. No, that just isn't good enough. We've come to
expect advertising innovations from Nike ... and "rain,
mud, and snow" is just too paper-thin to suspend disbelief.
No games, no interactivity to speak of (alright, there
is a pretty cool "send an email to a friend" tool),
no impressive feats of engineering -- just a simple
point-and-click display of the same athletic gear
they had last year. Same product, different positioning.
Hell, what did you expect? The commercials aren't
even very good. Highlights include: excellent photography,
really nice transitions, and an adequate display of
everything else.Designed by: Blast
Radius CAReview: Max F.

Stay
Young Forever ()
Designed in house by Diesel's winkingly
homoerotic creative staff, Save Yourself Forever boasts
clever purpose and purposeful design: a triumph at
worst. Five applications, sound clips from Save Yourself
survivors, and lovely photography (featuring the infamous
Real Dolls, or a reasonable facsimile thereof) show
off not only Diesel's clothing line for Winter and
Fall of 2001/2002, but raises the bar for J. Crew's
next catalog series by packaging their sales pitch
in a Kubrickian "live forever" brochure. Diesel's
Save Yourself Team presents you, the youthful viewer,
with the keys to everlasting beauty: drinking your
own urine, breathing less, and abstaining from sex,
are only the tip of the iceberg. Think THX 1138 meets
Gattaca, and you're halfway there. Highlights include:
a downloadable decision maker, an ASCII double-helix,
a resignation tool, and making a light pink and peach
color scheme work perfectly.Designed by: Diesel
in-house (As far as we know)Review: Max F.

Moma
Builds ()
Moma Builds gives us an overview
& timeline for the new constructions underway for
their two museums in NYC. The site appears like something
a building contractor may carry around in his back pocket
to assure the architectural plans are followed to specifications;
it uses a sparse number of colors - mainly grays - laid
over a tight grid and maintains a strong utilitarian
feel so it appears to function much like a blueprint
schematic or a CAD design.Designed by: Nettmedia.
NYC

Milla
()
Milla is the fantastically minimalist
& beautifully rendered site for a German design
firm that specializes in exhibitions, shows, Media architecture
and production. Using an organic theme of growth and
nature, we are transported into a virtual Shangri-La
that simultaneously maintains a pure modern design aesthetic.
This fine balance of these concepts makes for an exciting,
original web experience that draws this user
into exploring the immersive world of Milla.Designed by: B&uum;ro
Diffus. DE